Fly me to the moon...

Good way to start off the month.  Ran 4 miles along the trail in 29:39 (7:24/mile).  It was nice and warm today for Dec. 1st.  Shorts and t-shirt weather in the afternoon.

Four miles along the trail.  With the trail closed I've been going the same direction every day.  It gets old.  Total time was 30:53 (7:43/mile).  Felt a little tired, and the legs were a little sore.

A little different route today.  I ran down Independence Ave. and then headed back towards BYU instead of towards Geneva Rd.  I caught the trail under the 820 N bridge and added a little more before turning around and heading home to make it 4 for the day.  Total time was 29:36 (7:24/mile).

The usual 4 along the trail. Total time was 30:08 (7:32/mile).

Much different route today for the 4 miles.  Started off as usual and then headed down Independence to the north.  Made a loop and ended up back on Independence after going under I-15, crossing the overpass on Center, and going down some stairs.  It was an interesting route, but I didn't enjoy the cars flying by on nearly every stretch of it.  Total time was 30:00 (7:30/mile).

Got a call from Sasha the night before asking if I wanted to run in the morning.  I took him up on the offer and did 4 with Mary Ann and him.  It was fairly warm out, and I ended up taking off the hat and wishing I hadn't worn pants.  The extra 0.5 was from running to and from Sasha's house.  Total time was 38:20 (9:35/mile).  I think that is getting into boltushka (sp?) territory.

Another morning run with Sasha, Mary Ann and Jeff.  It was a blistering 45 degrees this morning!  Ran to Sasha's house and then did ~2 warm-up to the start of the Provo River 5 mile tempo course.  Sasha and Jeff were doing a 15 mile tempo.  I did the first mile with the group (5:50) and then turned around.  It felt good to go that fast.  It felt tough in the middle, but I settled into a nice pace and felt great at the end.  I felt like I could have kept that pace for at least another mile.  I thought that was pretty good considering my sporadic training over the past several months.  Finished with a total time of 45:40 (7:22/mile).

It was quite a change in temperature from Saturday at only 21 degrees. You know it's cold when Sasha wears pants and a hat. I ran 2 with Sasha and Dustin with Mary Ann joining us for about 400 m at the end. I then turned around and headed home for a total time of 33:59 (8:00/mile).

Let it snow!  There was about 3-4 inches of snow on the trail, and it was still coming down this morning.  I ran with Sasha, Jeff and Mary Ann.  Did my 2 and then turned around.  Total time was 34:30 (8:07/mile).

Seven miles along the snowy, icy trail in 1:00:39 (8:39/mile) with Sasha and Mary Ann.  This will be my long run for the week.  Tomorrow should be shorter.  Felt okay for the run, but the stomach was having issues.

Cold morning run with Sasha and Mary Ann.  We did 5 along the trail with a pit stop at Macey's.  Total time was around 44:54 (8:58/mile).  The extra 0.5 was from running to and from Sasha's house.

Ran 5 miles with Sasha and Mary Ann with the extra 0.5 for the warmup and cooldown to Sasha's house. Felt fine. It was a heat wave with temps in the 30s. Total time was 47:03 (8:33/mile) for the 5.5.

Five slow, difficult miles along the trail.  The trail wasn't plowed in most places so we had to run through about 6-7 inches of snow.  It felt like I was back in college running on the dunes up at Lake Michigan.  I ran with Sasha and Mary Ann as usual.  The total time was 46:05 (9:13/mile).

Five miles along the trail with Sasha and Mary Ann.  They plowed the trail so it was much easier today.  We even did some strides on the dry spots.  Total time was 44:50 (8:58/mile).

It was warmer this morning with very little signs of the large predicted snowfall.  There was about an inch of new snow, but nothing near what was predicted.  I ran 5 miles along the trail with Sasha with a bonus Christmas present from Provo city.  The trail was opened!  It has been closed for awhile now in one direction making it impossible to run towards the lake very far.  Total time was 46:13 (9:14/mile) for the 5 miles.

It was just Sasha and I again this morning.  We did 5 miles in 46:38 (9:19/mile).  The legs have been getting an extra workout this week with all of the snow on the trail, but it is probably a good thing to give some of those underused and stabilizing muscles a workout.  I prefer running on the trail to running on the roads where you have to fight the traffic.  It's not as relaxing to run when you have to worry about cars all the time.

It was a good end to a good, consistent week of training.  It was the usual 5 miles with Sasha along the trail, but it was much faster today.  The frigid (9 degrees) temp made for decent traction on the snow.  Total time was around 46:14 for 5.25 (8:48/mile).  We were going 8:30 pace for awhile.  I had some watch troubles so the time may be a little off.

It was another slow day along the trail, but there were dry spots in parts so that is encouraging.  With a few days of warmer temps and no snow this week, the trail should be in good shape soon.  It was the usual 5 along the trail with Sasha in 43:05 (8:37/mile).

Ran with a big group this morning.  We had Sasha, Mary Ann, Michelle, and Tyler.  I did the warmup with the group and then the first 500m or so with them on their speedwork.  Then I headed home.  Total time for the ~5.5 was 45:12 (8:13/mile).

I did 3.5 in the morning with Sasha and Mary Ann.  The time was 30:00 (8:34/mile) for the entire run.  I plan to do the New Year Run this afternoon so more on that later.

After the run in the morning at 9 degrees, I wasn't sure how warm it would be for the race.  I kept an eye on the temp and it still said 19 degrees at 12:30.  Then it jumped to 33 just before I left.  The sun was shining and it felt nice.  I drove over, registered and got my number.  After a quick wardrobe change, I set out for a bit of a warmup.  I ended up doing a little over a mile including a little bit with Sasha.  I did some stretching and some strides and got ready to race.  The start was a little bit delayed, but it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.  I just kept my warmups on and kept warm.  My goal for the race was to go somewhere around 5:50-6 minutes per mile.  The race started and Sasha took off.  I debated on whether to go with him and try to hang as long as possible, but decided against it since he was shooting for 5:20-5:30 pace.  Adam and Chauncy were right there so I thought maybe I could draft for awhile, but the pace was too slow so I took off.  Sasha was slowly pulling away, and I was building a small gap on Adam.  I hit the first mile in a respectable 5:45.  The course out to the turnaround was a headwind the whole time after about 600 meters.  It was a bit cold, but I kept pushing.  I was feeling good and passed Sasha going the other way.  I hit the turnaround and had about a 100 meter lead on Adam, but Chauncy was closing on Adam.  It was a little after the turnaround that I developed a nasty side cramp on my right side.  The same thing happened on my last race.  It was slowing me down and generally being annoying.  I didn't see the mark for the 2nd mile, but I got my split at the mile mark on the way back and figured my splits out that way.  The second mile was 6:24, so I slowed down considerably.  I expected Adam and Chauncy to go by any second, but there was no sign of them.  I finally got the cramp worked out a little bit with a half mile to go and tried to kick it in.  With about 400 meters to go, I could hear someone coming up behind me so I sped up a notch.  I didn't want to look behind me so with 200 to go I gave it all I had.  The last mile was 5:52 with the last 0.1 in 36 s for a total time of 18:37.  That is almost right on 6:00/mile pace, so I was pleased.  It is the fastest 5K I have run in quite awhile.  The last 5K I ran was the Cougar run in 2006 with a time of 19:28.  My training has been sporadic for the past couple of months and almost non-existent before that while working through an injury.  My time will drop as I get some more consistent training in.  I finished the day by running a cooldown with Adam.  We ran out to the turnaround of the course and drove his truck back while picking up the cones along the way.

I was pleased with the race overall.  It was small but adequate.  Having the registration, food and awards in a house nearby was nice.  Things didn't go as smoothly as they could have, but I enjoyed myself, and Mary Ann did a good job overall.  Things will improve as more people hear of the races, and the bugs in the system work themselves out.  I will definitely run more races in the series and will recommend it to my friends.